Lingering Taste of Rum & Raisin
by Ishka
Summary: It all started with one piece of Pocky that Sousuke and Haru had to share.


Lingering Taste of Rum and Raisin

Haruka sighed, glancing at Nagisa warily, then took a stick of rum & raisin Pocky as (one-sidedly) agreed. He took one end of it on his lips as the much taller person beside him took the other end before they began to simultaneously, slowly, nibble on the treat. The others around them watched on with mixed faces- a couple of them looked worried (one much more than the other), one (very) excited, one flustered, one blushing profusely, and one had a very amused smirk.

As Haruka was idly nibbling on the snack, which he found too sweet by the way, he thought back on how he had gotten into this in the first place. After a joint swimming practice with Samezuka, Nagisa invited them all for dinner. At Haruka's place, of course, since e lived alone. Haruka did not bother to protest. After all, as much as he hated to admit it, he could never say no to the younger boy he had become so fond of over the years. However, while they were eating, it suddenly started raining cats and dogs. And the pouring did not stop even hours later.

Always the first one to get bored, and also always the first one to come up with the most unexpected- and outrageous- ideas, Nagisa decided on behalf of the group that they were going to play a game. This time, however, he did not make a big dice (something Rei was very grateful for), instead, he made them draw lots with numbers on it. He wanted to play King's Game.

With Nagisa as King, he had ordered numbers 7 and 8 to share a piece of Pocky, and eat it the couple's way. The number Haruka picked was 7. And as it turned out, the person sitting beside him picked 8. And the person beside him, of all people, had to be Yamazaki Sousuke.

_'The__ games Nagisa comes up with...'_ Haruka inwardly sighed as the two of them now continued to chew.

As they were about to take the last bite, Nagisa added with a wicked grin and a playful tone "Oh and by the way, since you have to eat it the couple's way, naturally, you're supposed to finish with a kiss!"

Rin, who was looking on with a very amused expression up until now, frantically turned to Nagisa. "Idiot! If you say that, Sousuke's really going to...!"

Before Rin could finish is sentence, Sousuke roughly bit the end of his half of the Pocky then moved his face away from Haruka, sitting upright once again as he was leaning awfully close to the shorter boy's face while they shared the sweet treat.

Makoto and Rei's worried faces, which turned completely white at Nagisa's last suggestion instantly looked relieved. They should have known that Sousuke was a no-nonsense guy after all. Game or no, surely he would not kiss anyone if he was not serious about it. Rin was probably just overreacting. Gou, who was all flustered, seemed to have calmed down- and even looked slightly disappointed?! Nitori, who was blushing profusely, looked like he was about to pass out. Nagisa, the root cause of it all, was starting to look tired from all the swimming and fun and just ready to go to sleep. It was past his bedtime, after all. Plus, after such a delicious and filling dinner prepared by his favorite cook in the whole wide world, all he wanted was a good nap.

As for Haru, he continued to chew on his Pocky disinterestedly. It was just too darn sweet. But never one to waste food, he would rather struggle to finish it. In one big gulp, he finally swallowed the last of it. Now he really wanted to get some water.

"Geez, finally..." He heard Sousuke impatiently sigh beside him. "Had to wait for you to finish. I didn't want to risk making you choke on food."

And the next moment, Haruka felt big hands grab his face before he was roughly pulled into a swift, yet very gentle, kiss.

~Fin~

**Omake**

Side Sousuke:

After a 4-hour lecture from his captain and childhood friend that went in one ear and out the other, Sousuke lay in his bed at the Samezuka student dormitory. Staring up at the starry sky out the window that made it seem like the guerrilla rain earlier was a lie, Sousuke wondered why he can still vividly feel Haruka's lips in his, even long after the lingering taste of rum and raisin had faded.

Touching his lips, he mumbled "Not bad, Nanase..." before he drifted off to sleep.

Side Haruka:

It was already past midnight and Haruka was still wide awake. He had been lying in bed for hours now, and even if Nagisa was sleeping in his room on an extra futon, Nagisa and the others had slept over countless times before that it no longer brothers him, so why could not fall asleep?

The other thing that did not make sense was his face. Why was it feeling so hot? Did he catch a cold from staying too long in the bath? But no, the reason he went into the bathtub in the first place was because his face had been feeling warm all night. It started after... Haruka frowned. Yes, it started after Sousuke's kiss.

Haruka made up his mind. Tomorrow, he must get answers. And the only one to ask was, of course, water. After all, water has answers to everything.

Perking up and getting excited to dive into the pool during club activities tomorrow, he finally yawned and started to feel sleepiness creep in. He lay down and switched his bedside lamp off to go to sleep.

But not before giving Nagisa's forehead a little slap.

~Fin (again)~

-x-

**Disclaimers:** This is just fan work based on Free! Eternal Summer. If you enjoyed it just a bit, I'll be happy ^_^


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